JPS6247986B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an electronic pattern making device for knitting, and more specifically to a jacquard circular knitting machine (hereinafter referred to as a jacquard knitting machine) having an electric needle selection mechanism,
This invention relates to a control device for knitting patterns using a computer and a floppy disk that can store large designs of more than 10,000 stitches and is relatively inexpensive and convenient to handle.

The knit position is the position where the needle moves forward to complete a new stitch with new yarn, and the welt position is the position where the needle does not move forward at all and therefore no stitch is formed.

Traditionally, Knit's electronic pattern control devices include MORAT's MVS500,
NORTHAMERICAN ROCKWELL
ELECTROKNIT48, Okuma Tekkosho PMC2300, etc. have been put into practical use, but the storage medium for the knitted pattern in these is magnetic tape or paper tape, and the former is
The latter has a higher equipment cost, but the equipment cost is lower than the former, but the storage density of paper tape is low.
If applied to large patterns, such as 1 million stitches, many rolls of paper tape would be required, and the shape was large, making it difficult to preserve and manage the pattern. In addition, the recent trend toward larger Jaccard designs has been countered by expanding the storage capacity of the computer's main memory, and by adopting IC memory as external storage, magnetic disk pack devices, etc. A disadvantage was that the cost of the device and the storage medium increased in proportion to the size of the handle.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a recently developed storage medium, which is a flexible magnetic disk memory (hereinafter referred to as floppy disk), which can store information in a compact manner, can be easily stored, and is relatively inexpensive in device and storage medium costs. The object of the present invention is to develop a control device for a jacquard circular knitting machine that can be used with

The present invention will be explained below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of the present invention, where solid arrows indicate the flow of data,
The broken line arrows represent the signal flow, where 1 is a floppy disk and drive unit, 2 is an operation console, 3 is a computer with a main memory, and 4 is a computer with a main memory.
is an interface, 5 is a jacquard circular knitting machine, 3
Reference numeral 2 denotes information converting devices, each of which is controlled by a computer 3, and transmits and receives data and signals between the devices.

The floppy disk is connected to the computer by a high speed data channel. Furthermore, one floppy disk media has an appearance similar to that of an IBM diskette, and has a storage capacity of 2,523,136 bits. Information can be displayed and a maximum of 1261568 stitches (if 5 or more colors are displayed in 4 bits, 630784 stitches) can be memorized.
Since there are many patterns with about 100,000 stitches, a method of storing them in multiple pieces is adopted. Therefore, in order to manage multiple patterns as shown in FIG. 2, a heading section 6 is provided at the beginning of the floppy disk to display the pattern number, number of courses, number of wales, number of colors, and storage location of the floppy disk. It is necessary to memorize each condition and the actual knitting patterns 7, 7', 7''.

The operation console consists of an illuminated pushbutton switch, a snap switch, a group of alarm indicator lamps, and a control section.

The operating procedure will be explained below. First, a pattern input instruction is given through the operation console. The instructions include inputting the pattern number stored on the floppy disk into the computer, and inputting the heading section 6 of the corresponding pattern number into the computer. When the pattern with the corresponding pattern number is not stored on the floppy disk, an alarm is displayed on the operation console. If the pattern is memorized,
Input the heading section 6, calculate the pattern area to be stored in the computer main memory (number of courses x number of wales x number of color display bits) based on the number of courses, number of wales, and number of colors, and calculate the capacity of the pattern storage section. However, if the result is smaller than the capacity of the pattern storage section 9 in the main memory, the entire pattern is input from the beginning of the pattern, and if the pattern area is large, the pattern area is divided by the pattern area.
Perform the calculation of pattern memory capacity ÷ 4, and if there is a remainder, process the carry. For example, if the result is 8, as shown in Figure 3, from the end of one repeat pattern, No. 8, Enter No. 7, No. 6, the capacity of the pattern memory capacity 9 divided into four from the beginning to No. 1, and show the status as A.
The value of 15, which is the part {(pattern memory capacity ÷ 4) - remainder}, is memorized, and later when the part is connected to No. 1, which is the beginning of the pattern, and No. 8, which is the end of the pattern, this value will be used. data 1
5 should be used.

Next, use the operation console to instruct the number of colors, allocation of yarn feeders and colored yarns, whether to use each yarn feeder, and pattern operation details.The contents of the instructions are checked, and if there is an error, conditions are set on the alarm display section. Display it as an error so that you can set the correct conditions again.

If there is no error, the starting position of the knitting pattern with respect to the knitting needles of each yarn feeder is calculated based on the positional relationship data of the yarn feeder and the corresponding knitting needle prepared in advance. The calculation procedure for this starting position is shown in Figure 4. MORAT MK - Knitting machine yarn feeder 36 gauge
20, the number of stitches is 1920 as an example.

The pattern to be knitted in Figure 4 is 1 repeat pattern 3
Based on 4, the pattern is repeated over the entire width of the knitting machine in the wale direction, and the pattern is repeated over the length of the fabric to be produced (the knitting machine is stopped) in the course direction. Knit the pattern all over. For the purpose of explanation, the wale direction is such that motif C is repeated as C' and C'' across the entire width of the knitting machine, and the course direction is 1
Describe in terms of repetition. a, a' are 1 repeat pattern 3
4 indicates the boundary in the wale direction, and b' indicates the boundary in the course direction. A is the rotation direction of the knitting machine, B is the knitting machine 1
Number of courses knitted by rotation (number of yarn feeders used divided by number of colors: For example, the number of yarn feeders for a 4-color pattern is 36 courses ÷ 4
= 9, but due to the relationship with the underground organization, it was organized into 32 units,
Do not use the 4th one. Any of the four unused yarn feeders may be used, but for the sake of explanation, 9 to 12 yarn feeders are used. ), the upper limit is indicated by b and the lower limit is indicated by b''. 1 to 36 have a yarn feeder of 4.
The case is shown in which the knitting needles 1 to 1920 are shown in different colors, and the relationship data between the yarn feeder and the knitting needles is added.

Based on the data on the positional relationship between the yarn feeder and the knitting needles prepared in advance and the described condition data of the operation console, the pattern 34 that can be seen in one repeat pattern surrounded by a, a', b, and b' is determined. Calculate and find the position corresponding to the yarn feeder. For the sake of explanation, let's assume that the first part to be knitted is a, a', b, b'', and the starting point is E (Wale 1, Course 1).In that case, the wale direction will be on the right side in Figure 4. Divide the knitting needle position counted by the number of wales in one repeat pattern 34 (1920 - knitting needle position + 1) by the number of wales, count the remainder from the a' direction to calculate the position in the wale direction, and the course direction is the yarn feeder. Divide the number by the number of colors, ignore the remainder, and take the quotient.
By calculating the position in the course direction by counting from the ``b'' direction, the number for one yarn feeder is obtained, and this can be repeated for the number of used yarn feeders.However, if there is an unused yarn feeder, move the yarn feeder number forward. To calculate the starting position of 36 yarn feeders, assume that the number of wales in one repeat pattern is 750.
The wale direction is (1920-1817+1)÷750=0 remainder
104, 104th from a′, course direction is 32÷4
= 8 from b'', point F (104, 8) is obtained, and the result obtained by converting it into an actual main memory address is used as table data corresponding to each yarn feeder, that is, each The main information for each yarn feeder is the course direction position of the knitted pattern, the wale direction position of the knitted pattern, the address of the main memory unit that stores the position of the knitted pattern, the bit number in that address, and the knitting needle position. It is stored in a part of the storage unit (11 in FIG. 2).

There are several possible ways to perform this calculation, but
No matter which procedure is used, there is no problem with the present invention.

Further, the assignment of yarn feeders and color codes and information on yarn feeder selection, which were previously instructed from the operation console shown in FIG. 10, are also stored in a part of the main memory as part of the table data.

Next, based on these table data, the pattern information is converted into needle selection information using the calculation procedure described above. 2-bit display) and
The color information specified by the assignment of the yarn feeder and the color code is compared, and if they are the same, the knit position is converted to "1", and if not, the welt position is converted to "0". Naturally, if the yarn feeder is not selected, it is converted to 0 at the welt position. This can be converted into all yarn feeders and sent to the interface for knitting. However, if the feeding interval (machine pulse interval) is 20 rpm on the knitting machine,
60sec ÷ 20rpm ÷ 1920 stitches x 1000ms (approximately 1.56ms) During that time, there will be the above processing, floppy input processing in the case of a large size, etc. If you simply repeat it, the processing time interval will not be constant. It is difficult in terms of time. Therefore, the computer continuously converts pattern information into needle selection information for multiple stitches (16 stitches in this case) at each yarn feeder.
The results are stored in multiple block areas, one block is extracted from the blocks, and the needle selection information converted in block units is transferred to the interface section.
The interface section, which exchanges signals in synchronization with the knitting machine's machine pulses (needle selection information requests), is connected to the computer, which performs the conversion process from pattern information to needle selection information without receiving machine pulses at short regular intervals. By sending and receiving signals to and from the knitting machine asynchronously, variations in processing intervals can be averaged out, and the above problem can be solved.

Therefore, by converting needle selection information for one block, 16 stitches can be converted for each yarn feeder. Therefore, the needle position of each yarn feeder mentioned above is shifted by one stitch in the rotational direction A, and the color information of that stitch is compared with the instructed color information to obtain needle selection information, and this is repeated 16 times. Store the current position as table data. When the needle selection position on the handle 34 reaches point a in one repetition, the needle is increased by the number of courses corresponding to one rotation and returned to point a'. When you come to course direction b
Make it return to b′. As shown in FIG. 2, the needle selection information for 16 stitches obtained in this way is stored in the main storage section 3 in several blocks with one block 10. This block is managed and if there is a vacant area 10', the needle selection information conversion is repeated until there is no vacant area. In the case of a partially large pattern, as shown in Figure 3, when knitting of 1/4 of the pattern stored in the pattern storage section of the main storage section, for example No. 8 in this state, is completed, the next 1/4 pattern is knitted. Input 4 minutes from the floppy disk to the No. 1 location where the formation has been completed, and the pattern stored in the main memory will be in the state of B. Next, input No. 4 to the No. 8 part, and the pattern will be in the state of C. , No.3 to No.7 part
By repeating the input processing in the above two states one after another, a large-patterned knitted fabric 5' is knitted.

Next, in the interface 4, the needle selection information is temporarily stored in the buffer memory 12, and the information for each yarn feeder stored in 36 words (1 word = 16 bits) is subjected to matrix conversion to convert it into 36 bits = 1 word. Store in shift registers 13 and 14. This is because a computer serially and continuously collects needle selection information for each yarn feeder.
This is because the knitting machine processes yarn in units of 16 bits, but since this knitting machine has 36 yarn feeders, it is necessary for each yarn feeder to operate simultaneously in units of 36 bits. This 36-bit needle selection information is then transferred to the knitting machine, which will be explained in more detail with reference to FIG. A knitting needle 17 rotates in the direction of arrow A in the knitting machine cylinder hook 16, the presence or absence of passing knitting needle is detected by a knitting needle detector 18, and an interrupt is applied to the interface 4 as a machine pulse 20 via a forming machine 19. In the interface 4, the controller 24 senses this and registers 1.
3, the 36 bits are converted into a pulse signal 21 by signal conversion 28, transferred to the knitting machine, and then sent to the control magnet 2 in the knitting needle mechanism via the amplifier 22.
3 to control the movement of the knitting needles 17.

At the same time as the transfer to the knitting machine, the counter circuit 27 in the interface 4 counts the number of times, and the contents of the shift register are shifted in several microseconds. The shift register 13 divides the 16 stitches into 14 and 2 stitches, and when the data for the 14 stitches disappears, that is, when the counter circuit 27 senses 0, the interrupt circuit 29 interrupts the computer 3. In the computer 3, 10 blocks are sequentially transferred to one block interface by an interrupt, and one area is emptied. The interface receives a transfer command and one block of data and temporarily stores them in the buffer 12.
Repeat this sequentially.

When the knitting machine stops rotating, machine pulses are no longer generated and the interface is maintained in that state. 30 is a sensor that detects reversal when the machine is stopped, and 31 is a circuit that compares the signal output from the sensor with the machine pulse signal.

The main configuration of the present invention has been described above, but as a practical machine, among the processing steps described above, the color information of one stitch of a knitted pattern, which takes a long processing time, is converted into 1-bit needle selection information of knit position or welt position. Then, update the table data and repeat the process of converting all the yarn feeders with dozens of stitches as one block by specifying the address, number of color display bits, and color code for the beginning of several dozen stitches of the knitted pattern. For example, by adding a conversion device (Fig. 1 32) that converts dozens of stitches' worth of color information data into needle selection information using a single command from a computer, and transmits and receives the data to and from the computer via a high-speed channel, the conversion can be performed. The processing time required to do so is greatly reduced, and the data processing capacity of the computer is therefore improved, reducing the burden of data processing.

Further, as shown in Fig. 5, when the knitting machine stops during inching operation, the reversal sensor 30 detects whether or not the cylinder is reversing, converts the signal, and compares it with the machine pulse using the comparison circuit 31. There is a reversal prevention device that ignores the machine pulse and does not output the needle selection pulse 21 as a result, and prevents knitting pattern deviation, and a power supply abnormality protection device that prevents pattern deviation due to the computer stopping in the event of a power failure. Amplifier) Prevents quality deterioration of knitted fabrics by adding an automatic return function.

In addition, in the processing procedure, although the motif of the repeated pattern is small, an example of a pattern knitted with over 1 million stitches is shown in Fig. 7. D is a flow pattern (one repeat pattern is shifted by an arbitrary number in the course direction), E is a pitch shift (a specific pattern area is repeated an arbitrary number of times), F is one point (a specific course or wale is repeated an arbitrary number of times) When converting design information into needle selection information by adding pattern manipulation functions such as If the knitting position of the knitted pattern stored in the main memory is calculated for all yarn feeders and this is repeatedly converted into needle selection information, the knitted fabric can be controlled more practically.

As explained above, the present invention is a control device for a Jiyagard circular knitting machine that uses a simple and inexpensive floppy disk to facilitate the storage and organization of patterns, and also knits a large pattern of 1 million stitches. It's large.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a configuration diagram of the present invention, Figure 2 is an information flow diagram, Figure 3 is a diagram explaining large pattern input, Figure 4 is a diagram explaining knitting patterns, and Figure 5 is a diagram explaining the interface. , FIG. 6 shows an example of the layout of the operation console, and FIG. 7 shows an example of the pattern obtained by pattern operation. 1 is a floppy disk, 2 is an operation console, 3 is a computer, 4 is an interface, 5 is a knitting machine, 32 is an information conversion device, 6 is a heading section, 7 to 7 are knitting patterns, 8 is a processing procedure, 9 10 is a block, 10' is an empty area, 11 is a storage section that stores table data, 12 is an interface buffer memory, 13 and 14 are shift registers, 15 is an empty part of the pattern, and 16 is an editing area. Machine cylinder hook, 17 is knitting needle,
18 is a needle detector, 19 is a shaper, 20 is a machine pulse, 21 is a needle selection pulse, 22 is an amplifier, 23 is a control magnet, 24 is an interface control section, 25 is a gate, 26 is a data converter, 2
7 is a counter circuit, 28 is a signal converter, 29 is an interrupt circuit, 30 is a reversal sensor, 31 is a comparison circuit, 3
3 is an instruction decoder, and 34 is a 1-repetition pattern. Arrow A is the rotation direction of the knitting machine, B is the number of courses knitted in one rotation of the knitting machine, C to C'' are the motifs, a,
a' is the boundary in the wale direction, b~b'' is the boundary in the course direction, D is the flow pattern, E is the pitch shift, F
indicates the original drawing of the one-point pattern and the resulting knitted pattern, Ho is the beginning of the pattern, F is the end of the pattern, A is the first time, B is the second time, Ha is the third time, and D is the fourth time. Each figure shows the state in which the pattern has been input.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1 Exchange of the jacquard design stored in the floppy disk device with needle selection information to a jacquard circular knitting machine having an electric needle selection mechanism using a computer according to instructions from an operation console. A jacquard circular knitting machine control device that uses a computer to convert needle selection information necessary for one yarn feeder for multiple needles in sequence for all yarn feeders into one set of data.
Equipped with an interface that has a mechanism that serially transfers the needle selection information to a buffer memory as a data block, then converts the needle selection information into a matrix using a data conversion circuit, reads it out from a shift register in parallel for each yarn feeder, and converts it into a pulse signal using a signal converter. A jiaquard circular knitting machine control device characterized by: 2. A needle selection information conversion device that instructs the start address of several dozen stitches of a knitted pattern, the number of color display bits, and a color code, and converts 2 to 4 bits of color information into 1 bit of needle selection information at once. A jacquard circular knitting machine control device according to claim 1, further comprising a high-speed channel for transmitting and receiving the above information to and from a computer.